United States v. John Vincent Oswald, John Paul Ahlstrom, Raymond Gene Bublitz, William Orme Cochrane

Appellants Oswald, Ahlstrom, Bublitz and Cochrane were charged in an indictment with receiving, concealing and facilitating the transportation of approximately sixty-three pounds of marihuana some eleven miles north of Lukeville, Arizona, on Arizona Highway 85, after same had been imported into the United States contrary to law, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 176a. After a jury trial, appellants were found guilty and sentenced to a term of imprisonment. This court has jurisdiction over the present timely appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

On appeal, the evidence must be viewed in a light most favorable to the government. Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80 , 62 S.Ct. 457 , 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942). On February 25, 1970, shortly before midnight, appellant Ahlstrom, driving alone in a vehicle with California license plates, approached the border crossing at Lukeville, Arizona, from Mexico. A routine border examination was conducted by Customs Inspector Seaver. On opening the trunk of the vehicle, Inspector Seaver detected the odor of marihuana. He also noticed some seeds and loose vegetable matter on the floor which resembled the debris from marihuana. The trunk also…